In today’s canto, Dante and Beatrice ascend to Venus, the third sphere of Paradise, where they encounter Charles Martel, the Medieval king of Hungary. Dante asks the king how it is, if men are made through the divine harmony of the heavenly spheres, that so much disharmony can arise. Charles Martel rehashes the timeless nature v. nurture debate. Wise words for us to hear, even 700 years later!Trans. John Ciardi

In today’s canto, Dante has some choice questions for Beatrice. How exactly does atonement work? How can the sin of humanity be wiped out? How does Christ’s suffering our punishment translate into redemption? Beatrice as ever answers Dante in good, reasonable scholastic method, and even delivers him a few nuggets of wisdom about the final resurrection of the body.

Tras. John Ciardi

Today, Emperor Justinian discourses about the history and trajectory of the Roman Eagle. From its humble origins among the brood of Romulus to the most powerful empire in Western History, the eagle flies over history, left and right. In addition to that, Justinian discusses the age-old problem of sacred church and secular powers. How much relationship between these two is too much? For Dante, it’s a thorny issue: it was owing to too much state in the Church that he was exiled from Florence. Trans. John Ciardi